Acetylcholine and the Brain

Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter discovered back in the early 1900’s. You are probably well aware of how important the acetylcholine neurotransmitter is. It was originally described as “vagus stuff” by Otto Loewi simply because it was so important to so many mental and emotional actions.(1)

A neurotransmitter is a chemical messenger that allows our neurons to communicate with each other. We have several different neurotransmitters that have different functions. However, acetylcholine is used more abundantly in the brain and body than any other.

What Acetylcholine Does

It is vital for a good mood, mental alertness, concentration, focus, and memory. These are qualities that are dimmed or lost with cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s – and greatly restored with acetylcholine!

Acetylcholine helps the brain connect different parts of memory together, such as a name with a face, as well as improved perception, concentration and verbal fluency. Wouldn’t that be a plus?!!

It also helps transmit nerve impulses from points of contact directly to the brain. Converted by the brain, choline can later become phosphatidylcholine which adds an extra layer of protection to cell membranes.

Acetylcholine is found in both peripheral and central nervous systems as well as in the cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems. These nerves pass through the cortex and hippocampus, areas of the brain. This means it also affects physical responses and, while we are asleep, it promotes the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep. It also helps in the production of HDL (good) cholesterol.(2)

Brain Fog and Emotions

This is a very common problem when chronic fatigue is involved in an illness – such as Lyme disease! However, when you have higher levels of acetylcholine, it is easier for your brain to form new connections between neurons, to store new memories and to recall old memories. Higher concentration of acetylcholine in the cerebral cortex is what increases attention span, focus, and communication between the left and right hemispheres of your brain.

Acetylcholine also helps keep primitive emotions like anger, fear, and aggression in check so we don’t overreact to minor situations. This makes it easy to see why Alzheimer’s disease and other mental disorders related to mental decline are also linked to low levels of Acetylcholine.

Wow! It really helps when a person can think better as they are going through a disease protocol recovery! As you can see, ensuring that you have proper acetylcholine levels can play a big part in recovery and boosting brain power as well.

The Acetylcholine Process

Memory function starts in the parietal lobes. This is where acetylcholine controls brain speed and helps improve memory access. (“Brain speed” refers to how fast the electrical signals are processed from the brain to the body.) However, as much as 90% of the USA population is believed to not get enough of the acetylcholine building blocks in their diet.(3)

So, how do you increase the amount of acetylcholine in your brain? Well, there is no such thing as a single acetylcholine supplement that will do everything. A direct supplement for acetylcholine does not exist. Therefore, we have to increase acetylcholine production in the body is to give itwhat it needs to make acetylcholine naturally!

So, our IN-Focus includes several nutrients that help your body raise its level of acetylcholine. The #1 way to do this, of course, is to simply increase the amount of choline in the body since choline is the direct precursor of acetylcholine. Then, other supplements can increase acetylcholine levels by improving the effectiveness of how it is used in the body.

This can be done by diet, of course, but our IN-Focus offers a quicker and easier way to increase choline (and acetylcholine) levels while you are working on changing your diet. The nutrients we use do not compete with other nutrients for absorption like choline obtained from diets.

Acetylcholine Supplements

There are three basic types of acetylcholine supplements, called “cholinergics” – or, things that activate or liberate acetylcholine:

1. Acetylcholine Triggers.

These supplements trigger the areas of your brain to cause more acetylcholine to be released. They stimulate your acetylcholine receptors to release more of the stored neurotransmitter. Because of their unique activity, acetylcholine triggers are very effective at increasing levels of this neurotransmitter’s activity in the brain.

People often use Acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC) to help with this process. ALC breaks down into a chemical called acetyl-COA which combines with choline to create acetylcholine. It has also been shown to improve learning and memory.(4) ALC is a great acetylcholine supplement because it helps make the conversion of choline into acetylcholine more efficient. It contributes to the production and release of acetylcholine in the brain and it also acts as precursor to acetylcholine in another way. ALCAR needs choline to create acetylcholine so it is often stacked with a choline salt for maximum effectiveness. As a bonus, it also is an amino acid that enhances energy production and is a brain antioxidant.(5)

2. Choline and Acetylcholine Sources.

It does not do much good to stimulate the release of acetylcholine if your stores of this neurotransmitter are too low to meet the demand. This is a common problem if you do not get enough nutrient acetylcholine producers in your diet. It is pretty easy to solve this problem by using a choline supplement or acetylcholine precursor. These allow more acetylcholine to be produced in the brain by supplying the raw materials of acetylcholine.(6)

Below are five of the most common Choline and Acetylcholine supplements. All are not needed and some are more effective:

Phosphatidylcholine and Soy Lecithin: Phosphatidylcholine is found in many foods such as eggs, meat, fish and dairy. Lecithin comes from soy products and has a smaller amount of choline. These are natural sources but, unfortunately, are not very concentrated.

Choline Bitartrate and Choline Citrate: If you buy choline supplements online, you are usually getting salt forms of choline bitartrate or choline citrate. They have the best absorption rates of the salt forms and are friendly on the digestive system. They are ok, inexpensive and will increase levels of acetylcholine but they are not very strong and not the best.

Centrophenoxine: Centrophenoxine is another potent acetylcholine supplement though less is known about its specific mechanism of action. It has been well documented to increase levels of acetylcholine in the brain.

*CDP Choline: This is very good (and expensive). It is more potent than most others and much more effective at increasing acetylcholine than other choline supplements. It crosses the blood brain barrier very easily helps your body makes more choline available for acetylcholine conversion. It has good penetration of the blood-brain barrier causes more acetylcholine to be produced in the brain than other choline supplements. It is also known for being very safe and has few associated side effects. This makes it our choice.

Alpha GPC: Like CDP choline, it is much more effective than other choline sources at turning into acetylcholine and is considered ‘nootropic’ alone. This is also very good as it directly breaks down into acetylcholine. It is known to improve memory function, make it easier to learn new concepts and it keeps your brain healthy by relieving oxidative stress. Alpha-GPC is used in Europe for Alzheimer’s and is derived from highly purified soy lecithin.(7)

3. Acetylcholinesterase Antagonists.

As much as we have built up acetylcholine, there is always a balance! Sometimes this enzyme needs to besuppressed to improve your brain function. Acetylcholinesterase is an enzyme that your body produces to naturally break down excessive quantities of acetylcholine. This prevents it from breaking down neurotransmitters in the brain. Most Alzheimer’s medications also limit the release of Acetylcholinesterase for the same reason.(8)

One of the best supplements that will give your body what it needs to do this is Galantamine, derived from the bulbs of snowdrop flowers. It has been used for decades in other countries to treat mild to moderate symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s.(9)

Huperzine A. is, perhaps, even better! It is derived from Chinese club moss and acts as a cholinesterase inhibitor. As a result, it raises acetylcholine levels in the brain. Research has shown it to be effective in improving cognition in patients with Alzheimer’s and in enhancing memory.(10-11)

(Also: It is good to take a decent multi-vitamin with the B complex or 2-4 caps a day of our Foundation to help the body use everything properly. Even so, we add some vitamin B-6, B-12 and zinc or our formula, all of which are needed in the synthesis of acetylcholine.)

What People Are Saying:

I am so grateful there is a product out there like Monolaurin that could help me get healthy in a safe way. Within a month of using Monolaurin, my energy level tripled, and as a result, I’m a much happier person.

My wife had MRSA so bad that the Dr. said she was going to die. They could not even come close to killing it. She has had MS for 43 yrs but I didn't want MRSA to kill her. She started taking monolaurin &. Bio fibrin & within 2 weeks she was getting better along with cleaning up her UTI infection. She is alive today because of your product, thank you very much!!!

After my diagnosis of HIV/AIDS 3 years ago, your products brought me to a degree of health I experienced as an athlete prior to my diagnosis. I am free of HIV through multiple tests and off all pharm. medicines.

I’m a holistic health practitioner with over 30 years of experience. I’ve suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and slowly worked up to 3 full scoops of Monolaurin a day and can’t believe the results…I haven’t felt this good in YEARS!

I am a 59 year-old woman and have had major outbreaks of genital herpes since I was 20. I started Monolaurin about 1½ year ago. The only outbreak I’ve had was when I was feeling so good I forgot to take it. Thank you for this wonderful supplement that has changed my life!

My brother told me how the doctors could not believe how our cousin’s wife recovered, when all of us relatives knew she was dying from battling MRSA. She took your products and was healed from it! I know this to be true because she was able to fly to visit family in the last couple of weeks!... No one in our family would ever think she could have done that as bad as she was before with MRSA. What a miracle!

I’ve been using Monolaurin for about 2 years now for Herpes and have not had one outbreak since taking it. Every once in a while when I feel I may be close to an outbreak, I increase my dosage for a couple of days and it goes away.

I have had Hepatitis C for 25 years and I started taking monolaurin three times a day and in six months my viral load went from 9,990,000 to 468,000, at this rate by my next blood test in six months the virus should be cleared and undetected.

Thanks to your protocol I on my way to ridding myself of Hepatitis C. after 20 years! My viral load was 10 million + and after 90 days of monolaurin, 3 scoops per day, it has dropped to under 2 million!

Sign-up Today!

Note: We will not share your email address with any other party. If you wish to opt out of the newsletter distribution, you may unsubscribe at any time.

The information provided by this website has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information and products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Persons taking pharmaceutical medications and those with medical conditions should consult with a healthcare professional before using any products. While we make extensive effort to provide accurate information and opinions from sources believed to be correct, no guarantee can be made as to the accuracy and completeness of any information within this website. The information and publications provided within this website are meant only to help educate the reader and are, in no way, intended to replace a physician's care or prescribed medication. Users are encouraged to independently verify any conclusions or information.

Putting the Pieces Together, Inc. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.